Ed Board was divided on the issue of a constitutionalamendment defining marriage as between a man and woman. OnWednesday, Ed Board ran an editorial agreeing with theamendment.
There’s been a great amount of attention paid tohomosexual marriage in recent weeks, and esteemed President GeorgeW. Bush is calling for an amendment to prevent these marriages. Webelieve this action to be totally uncalled for. Not only should thegovernment abstain from an amendment against homosexual marriages,it should abstain from regulation of anyone’s moral habits.This means that the government would have to repeal legislationpertaining to married couples, or at least adjust the currentlegislation to any agreement between adults, be they friends,lovers or roommates. The government’s job is to provide forthe populace what it cannot provide for themselves, things like themilitary and infrastructure, not to judge people’s personalpreferences.
This proposed amendment would be a discriminatory action, verysimilar to laws against inter-racial marriages from decades past.Those laws were eventually deemed unconstitutional, as thisamendment should be.
Proponents for the amendment say that because it is anamendment, it would be a gradual change requiring the approval oftwo-thirds of the House of Representatives as well as two-thirds ofthe Senate. This requirement is designed to prevent any sort ofradical rule by the minority. However, just because it is justifiedby the majority doesn’t mean that it is correct. If 67percent of America decided to kill the other 33 percent, thatwouldn’t be morally correct now would it? The majority hasbeen morally incorrect in the past, and there is nothing to provethat they are correct now.
America’s Bill of Rights provides for the separation ofchurch and state. Most moral statutes are originally based inreligion. The whole concept of marriage is in fact a religioustradition. Although it has been seriously perverted in the last fewcenturies (married by Elvis anyone?), it is still originally basedon a religious principle, and thus the government shouldn’tmake any distinctions about people based on their maritalstatus.
The government has already taken the step to “allow”homosexuality with the removal of former anti-sodomy laws, whyallow continued discrimination in the form of bans on marriage?
This portion of Ed Board believes that this amendment is bothunconstitutional and discriminatory and as such should be dropped.However it is good that it was proposed as it has stirred up agreat deal of debate as to the constitutionality of the governmentmaking rulings on moral matters.